Prodigal Son
by TheResurrectionist
Summary: Wee!chester fic! Sam tries to ride the bus for the first time, but things don't go as planned. Sam is 8, Dean is 12.


A/N So, a weechester drabble that exploded into something with an actual plot. Reviews are like my pillow, soft and comfortable and great to fall asleep on.

* * *

The day Sam got lost, it rained.

Not sweet rain, when you could smell it for hours before it came down, and the sky swelled with such pretty colors that all Sam could do was stare while Dean laughed.

No, on this day, the rain came without ceremony, pouring down like gunfire as Sam tried to make it to the bus stop quickly.

It was first time in his eight years that he would ride a bus. A part of him was excited. He'd never gotten to do anything so important on his own before, mostly because Dean did it for him.

Dean was back at the motel room right now, curled up around the toilet. He'd caught something on Sunday, the day they'd arrived, something he assured Sam was just a bug, but he knew better. Dean was going to be off of his feet for at least another week, and that meant Sam could be the big brother for once.

So, when Dean heaved and tried to convince Sam to catch a ride with someone else so Dean didn't have to walk him, Sam pulled out the puppy eyes and told him he could do it himself.

"I'll just take the bus." He told Dean, sitting on the older boy's untouched bed. "I have enough money."

Dean looked murderous, a bad pair with the green tinge his face still had. "Like hell you will. Call that lady, whatever her name is, Kathy, and get a ride. It's too far to go at your age."

Sam pouted at Dean. "I can do this. Besides, we only met Kathy a day ago. This is easier." He said, trying to put that pleading tone into his voice that usually got adults to bend over backwards for him.

Dean might have been the charmer, but Sam had puppy eyes and a sweet smile. He wondered who'd be victorious in a fight.

Besides, he was eight after all. Dean was already actively taking care of him when he was that old. He could remember Dean walking him to school when he was little, terrified of the kids but proud to know his big brother was there. But that was gone now. Sam was tired of being treated like a baby.

Dean had agreed somewhat shakily after a few applications of Sam's puppy eyes, pale and trembling still as he watched Sam put his Spider-Man backpack on and walk proudly out the motel doorway.

All of his classmates still got rides every now and then. Every school they went to had the cool kids who walked alone too. Sam had found himself envious of them. they didn't have two people breathing down his neck all the time. they didn't spend ninety percent of their life with the same two people either. Now that Sam could prove he was adult, maybe Dean would let him ride the bus all the time. To all of their new schools.

So, he walked out the door with a smile and made his way to the bus stop, having walked around yesterday to find it.

After making sure he was indeed at the right stop, he sat down at the metal bench and swung his legs, patiently waiting like a grown up.  
His two dollars and quarter were in his right hand, getting slightly sweaty as he gripped it tighter.

He could barely believe this. He was going to do this by himself. Sam was going to ride a bus to school without Dean or Dad's help.

He watched the sun rise as he waited, legs still swinging. The bus should arrive soon, making him anxious to continue his journey even more.  
Sure enough, five minutes later, the bus arrived.

The large vehicle rumbled so loud Sam heard it before he saw it. Large wheels and lots of windows were only some of its features. Lights lit up the inside to ward off morning, bright and fluorescent.

Sam stood up and walked up to the side of the road, waiting for the bus driver to open the doors so he could get on.

The driver ignored him though. Sam knocked a few times, watching the man startle as he saw him through the plastic.

The doors made a whoosh sound as they opened, making Sam smile. It was exactly like he'd imagined it.

"What'ya want, kid?" The man grumbled, city uniform straining around a beer belly. The man looked bored and unsympathetic.

"I wanna get on." Sam told him proudly, holding out his money.  
The man just sighed, motioning for him to get on.

The bus began to move suddenly, causing Sam to lurch back. Quick reflexes had him grabbing the pole next to his hand before he almost fell over.

"That's a dollar seventy-five." The bus driver muttered at him, eyes on the road.

Sam nodded, but when he looked at his hand, he only had two dollars and a quarter. Math told him he needed change.

"Uh, sir?" He asked the driver, trying to sound older than he was, like it was an adult problem to forget change.

"Yeah, kid?"

Sam shuffled a little where he stood, but stopped himself when he realized that wasn't what adults did.

"I don't have change. I only brought two dollars and a quarter." He started, getting a little nervous as the driver stopped at a red light and eyed him unflinchingly.

"Jus sit down." The man told him, waving his hand at the empty seats behind him. "You're not worth the money anyway."

Sam walked down the aisle, unsure if he should be offended or not. Not worth the fare, or not worth the trouble?

He glanced up and down the seats decisively, trying to figure out where he should sit.

Big boys didn't sit right next to the driver, he knew. They sat wherever they wanted.

That meant he could sit in the back, right?

He decided he was right and climbed the steps slowly, careful of the pole when the bus lurched forward again.

He sat down on the pale blue seat, suddenly amazed by the advertisements above him. There were dental ads, restaurant ads, and even ads for college. Sam didn't really know what college was, but the boy he'd talked to three schools ago had told him it was a place where really smart people went.  
Sam liked to think he was smart. After all, he was riding a bus on his own, wasn't he?

Sam startled when the bus driver called out "Michigan!" But realized it was just a street name.

He double checked in his head to make sure he knew which stop to get off of. His stop should be called Summers street if he remembered right.

He had a while, it seemed. That was fine with him.

It was weird to see the world moving around him without the Impala's windows and loud radio buzzing in his ears. The bus was loud, sure, but not as loud as Dean when he felt in the singing mood.

He wasn't sure if he liked it. But he knew school was at the end of the ride, and he could tell all the kids there what he did to get to there today. They'd be so impressed.

He smiled.

The rest of the ride passed uneventfully, but Sam could barely keep his eyes off the window. Everything was amazing this morning. People were waking up, sweeping their walks, taking kids to school. It was a sort of glimpse into the life Sam wanted.

When the bus driver called out his stop, Sam grabbed the yellow wire he'd seen other people pull and yanked, making the sign at the front of the bus flash red.

The bus rumbled to a stop next to Sam's school, a small building with the words "Anderson Elementary" stenciled across the front in black letters.

Finally.

Sam walked forward bravely, hiking his backpack up his shoulder as he looked up and down the sidewalk before walking into the school.

As Dean would say, Showtime.

* * *

The school was like any other in the middle of nowhere Midwest. All the kids had grown up together, and stared obviously at the new arrivals. Sam was used to this, knew he'd be gone in a few weeks anyways so it didn't really matter.

The day had gone, once again, like any other. He made his way through the parade of "Hello everyone, this is Sam. He's new here." and got out alive.

His Spiderman backpack was still in the cubby he'd left it in when he entered.

He still had the two dollars and a quarter left. Sam felt a momentary flash of embarrassment as he realized he probably wouldn't have been able to get home if the morning bus driver hadn't let him on for free.

He dismissed the thought. Independent adults didn't focus on the negative.

Walking out to the bus stop with the other kids, he enjoyed the stares he got when he stood next to the public bus stop instead of the school one.

Much to his amusement, one of the kids came up and stared at him wide eyed.  
"You hop the grown up bus?" He asked Sam incredulously.  
Sam smirked a little, something he'd learned from Dean. "Yeah. I am."

The kid just stared for a couple more seconds and ran off back to his friends. Sam just turned his head a little and stood straighter, proud of all the attention he was getting.

He couldn't help thinking Dean would be a little jealous.

He grabbed a book from his backpack when everyone else left, still waiting for his bus. By the time it rumbled down the desolate country road, there were no cars in sight. Sam's nose was still in his book, focusing on the intense words of Lemony Snicket.

"You getting' on, kid?" A bus driver said to him through open doors, and Sam realized the bus had arrived. Feeling ashamed, he leapt on the bus, putting his money in the machine (even though it was all he had) and grabbed a seat in the middle of the bus. If the bus driver noticed him overpaying, he didn't say anything.

Sam put his nose back into his book, feeling better now that he was on the bus. He was fine, sitting with the adults without them caring.

It was kind of exhilarating.

That same feeling was the one that kept him unfocused for the rest of the ride, reading his book without a care in the world. He didn't even notice when the sky began to darken with rain, and his route seemed like it was going in the wrong direction.

When the last person got off the bus, Sam looked up to see the bus driver staring at him.

"Last stop, kid." The guy said, sounding like it was a line from a B-horror flick Dean liked to watch.

Sam widened his eyes at the time. It was already five o' clock! When had that happened?

He looked at the trees outside but didn't recognize the surroundings.  
Somewhat tentatively, he got off the bus and put his book in his bag. The bus growled away and left Sam on the side of the road.

The shocking feeling that hits you when you know something's gone terribly wrong crashed down on him then.

He had no idea where he was. There were no road signs, no landmarks.

And, you know, the ominous rumbling of the sky above him. That meant rain, as if nature was mocking Sam.

He tightened his grip on the backpack straps, pleading with himself to stay calm.

He knew where he was. He had to. This was supposed to go perfectly.

Sam looked up at the bus stop and gasped as his heart seemed to stop.

The number on the sign was different, something about a flyer, with a totally different number than the bus Sam had taken this morning.

Was it possible he hopped the wrong bus?

He shook his head, walking closer to the sign to make sure.

The numbers seemed to glare at him, and he turned away as a small bit of anger bubbled up inside of him.

If he hadn't been so stupid, he would have realized he was on the wrong bus.

He could almost hear Dad in his head then, voice sharp and eyes blazing at just another thing Sam had done wrong.

He was so tired of being the brother who always screwed things up. Even now, with Dean puking his guts out at home, Sam was almost positive which son Dad would pat on the head and say 'good job' to.

And it wasn't Sam.

Scrunching the handle of his stupid backpack in his hand, he turned away from the bus stop and tried to figure out what to do.

He couldn't just hop the same bus and hope it took him back to school. First off, he didn't have enough money, and second, the road was deserted. Rain was brewing in the west, dark clouds rolling over Sam's head threateningly, and he knew he needed to find cover soon.

The bus shelter was out, small windows and black metal frame flimsy in the face of a large storm. Especially a lightning storm.

He'd read somewhere that metal conducted electricity, and that if you stood near metal things during a storm you'd die.

Sam really didn't want to die.

That left him with two options: try to flag down a car and get a ride, or walk and find somewhere to stay dry until he could figure out where he was.

A small part of Sam hoped that someone would stop for him, so he walked forward, placing his thumb out like he'd seen some of the older kids joke about a couple hours ago.

After about ten minutes (and no cars) rain began to splatter down. The instant the first drop hit his skin, Sam knew he'd chosen the wrong option. So, he let his hand fall as he walked quickly to the bus stop, knowing he needed to get somewhere fast.

He didn't want to get caught in the storm. Grown ups weren't afraid of storms. Not even Dean.

Under the bus shelter, he looked up and down the road. Deciding spur of the moment to just pick a direction and run, he stumbled along the road going east, covering his head with his hands as the rain became vicious, rain pelting his hands like little sharp rocks.

The road looked normal, at least as far as he could see. It didn't look like it ended, but Sam was sure there was a corner or something somewhere.

Sam didn't know how long he walked, just that the rain was cold and he needed to keep going. The road seemed to stretch on for ages, trees beginning to border the road as the pavement became soft under his feet, asphalt feeling like gravel under his dirty sneakers.

The rain still pounded down mercilessly, and Sam's clothes quickly grew soaked. Every step squished, sneakers like two sponges as he made his way through the mud, knowing he'd messed up.

He knew Dad would be home soon. Dad never said when, but he'd probably come home early just to see Sam fail. It was so unfair.

Shaking his head a little, he stopped walking when the sensation of rain on his skin stopped. Looking up, he realized he was standing under a large pine tree, dark mud beneath the pine soaking his shoes.

Wait. Mud?

He looked down and realized the road had disappeared, leaving behind thick grass and mud. He turned around in terror, desperately trying to find the road again.

There were trees all around him now, tall trunks damp with the rain that rolled down from the treetops above. He couldn't see the sky anymore, treetops so dense barely any rain crept through.

His heart began to hammer. This was so much worse than getting on the wrong bus.

The air around him began to feel lighter after a few minutes. He was still freaking out, but a sweet scent caught his nose, and he followed it mindlessly, knowing he had no other options.

A few minutes of walking later, the trees parted to reveal two long roads, intersecting at a point in the road marked by a large, flowering cherry tree.

Sam knew it wasn't blossom season yet, but the white petals drew him in, sweet aroma making him walk closer to the intersection.

He was at what Dad called a 'crossroads'. He wouldn't tell Sam what it meant, only that they were powerful. Sam could feel the power, thrumming along the sides of the paths, the cherry tree a visible extension of where the two paths met.

Sam walked forward mindlessly, and the world faded around him as he touched the tree's trunk reverently.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you." A voice said behind him, causing Sam to turn sluggishly around as footsteps sounded behind him.

A man stood a few steps away from Sam,

The air around him began to feel lighter after a few minutes. He was still freaking out, but a sweet scent caught his nose, and he followed it mindlessly, knowing he had no other options.

A few minutes of walking later, the trees parted to reveal two long roads, intersecting at a point in the road marked by a large, flowering cherry tree.

Sam knew it wasn't blossom season yet, but the white petals drew him in, sweet aroma making him walk closer to the intersection.

He was at what Dad called a 'crossroads'. He wouldn't tell Sam what it meant, only that they were powerful. Sam could feel the power, thrumming along the sides of the paths, the cherry tree a visible extension of where the two paths met.

Sam walked forward mindlessly, and the world faded around him as he touched the tree's trunk reverently.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you." A voice said behind him, causing Sam to turn sluggishly around as footsteps sounded behind him.

A man stood a few steps away from Sam, dark coat swirling around him in the soft breeze.

He was tall, a dark hood hiding his face. A wooden staff was in one of his hands, thin and bone-white.

"Who are you?" Sam asked, trying to see the man's face.

The man chuckled. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Samuel."

Sam wrinkled his nose. "It's Sam." He replied, shaking his head at the man. He thought saw twin eyes of red under the hood, but they were gone before he could really remember what they looked like.

"Fine." The man replied, taking a step forward. "So, what do you want?"

Sam frowned. "What are you talking about?" He clenched his hand around his backpack tighter, feeling suddenly uncomfortable.

The man sighed. "Don't play coy. I don't have all day, you know."

Sam was confused. "I'm sorry, sir. I'm lost." He looked at the man pleadingly. "I just need to get home. Which way is the bus stop?"

The man took his hood off, revealing a handsome face with red eyes. Sam gasped, startled, and took a step back.

"Wh-what are you?" He asked shakily. "Are you a demon?"

The man grinned widely. "Smart boy."

* * *

A/N Continue? Let me know!


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